Playoff Putbacks: Has Michael Jordan cursed the Bulls?

May 3, 2013
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Curry and Chandler in 2001. / Fred Jewell, AP

by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history and one vindictive spirit of vengeance. You see, Jordan used to play for the Chicago Bulls. Heck, you could say he was the Chicago Bulls. Then Jordan decided he wasn't the Chicago Bulls, and now the Chicago Bulls have bad things happen always.

The Bulls have picked in the top four of the NBA draft eight times since Jordan left them in 1998. That includes two No. 1 picks and two No. 2 picks. They should have plenty of talent, and to their credit, they haven't messed things up too much on their own. But things never go right for the Bulls, like how in Thursday's pivotal Game 6 of their first-round playoff series with the Brooklyn Nets, every good player on the roster was either sick or hurt. They lost 95-92, and Nate Robinson vomited.

Did Jordan curse the Bulls? Let's not look at it from the witchcraft perspective. Let's go back and examine events and how Jordan's long shadow has defined the Bulls through the 15 years since he left:

1999 and 2000 drafts: The Bulls took power forwards with top-four picks in consecutive drafts. Elton Brand (No. 1 in 1999) was a good pick who became an NBA All-Star (for another team, but we'll get there). Marcus Fizer (No. 4 in 2000) was a miserable pick who flaked out of the league quickly. The Bulls wanted to rebuild in the Jordan aftermath from the inside out. Verdict: Curse.

2001 draft: Wait, haven't seen enough? The Bulls followed those two drafts by taking two more big men in the same top four. First they traded Brand for the No. 2 pick, Tyson Chandler. Then they took Eddy Curry fourth. (Superstar big man Pau Gasol was picked third.) The Bulls ran out of patience before Chandler became one of the NBA's best defenders, and Curry just kept gaining weight and failing through various gigs. But most people praised their moves. This was supposed to work, supposed to be the right way to build from the inside out. Verdict: Curse.

2003 offseason: Promising point guard Jay Williams got into a motorcycle crash before his second season. He never played in the NBA again. This does not seem related to Jordan or his shadow. This is just sad. Verdict: Not curse.

2004 draft: Ben Gordon, No. 3 overall? Really? The guy is a 6-3 shooter with no other real skills. This pick was absurd, but the Bulls hadn't had a decent off guard since ... Jordan. This is pure Jordan-fueled desperation. (They did get Luol Deng seventh, so that worked.) Verdict: Curse.

2011 playoffs: The Bulls had the No. 1 seed and reached the Eastern Conference finals. Then they faced LeBron James and the Miami Heat. Then they lost a torturous five-game series featuring James at his most passionate, at least on the defensive end. What fueled James' desires? Endless comparisons to Jordan, of course. Verdict: Curse, sort of.

2012 playoffs: The Bulls again land the top seed. Then Rose tears his anterior cruciate ligament in the opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. Then Joakim Noah goes down as well. Then they get stunned in six games by the No. 8 seed Sixers. Jordan had to have something to do with this. Verdict: Curse.

This stuff doesn't all happen at once, not in the playoffs. Not unless some omnipotent force doesn't want his former team to win a title without him.

He's on fire! Stephen Curry, that is. OK, at this point, this stuff is obvious. The Golden State Warriors guard may be the best shooter ever when all is said and done, and he already holds the NBA record for three-pointers in a season. But while he led the Warriors into the second round with a 92-88 Game 6 victory, he led them to a particularly ridiculous 33-20 third quarter. Curry had four threes, two free throws and three assists in the quarter. How hot? Hot enough that someone made a mashup of his shooting to NBA Jam announcing.

Andrew Bogut doesn't realize he gets to play more. The Warriors center isn't used to stealing the spotlight from David Lee (who made a triumphant and stunning return) and Curry in postgame interviews. But he had a huge game with 21 rebounds, four blocks and 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting to totally validate Jeff Zillgitt's awesome story on the evolution of the center position. Then he got nervous. "For sure, save the best for last," he said on TNT. Wait, what? "Hopefully not the last now," he quickly corrected himself. Hopefully not, Andrew. But with your ankle, we never know.